Chair’s Visit Report from the #TransformFreetown launch in Freetown.

I have recently returned from a wonderful week in Freetown
where I was proud to represent the Freetown Society at a number of important
events.

The main reason for
my visit was at the invitation of the Mayor of Freetown ,Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, to
attend the launch of #TransformFreetown where the President of Sierra Leone was
giving the keynote address. I was asked to give a statement outlining our
wonderful twinning and to celebrate our achievements but, most importantly, I
was able to offer our full support to the Mayor’s plan to #TransformFreetown. It
was a little daunting to be on the top table facing a room of 500 people but
the atmosphere was amazing. The Mayor’s reception when she stood up to speak
gave me goosebumps, it genuinely felt like we were all part of a very special
moment for Freetown.

Delivering speech at the Transform Freetown launch event

The Mayor outlined the progress made in only 8 months which
included key meetings with residents, NGOs, stakeholders and many more to
engage everyone in the plan. The plan is based around a framework of 11
priority sectors, grouped into 4 key clusters – Resilience, Human development,
Healthy City and Urban Mobility. The action plans have been drawn up and first
target dates are in place.

Yes, the city has a
long way to go but with the enthusiasm and determination of the people in the
room led by the energy and commitment of Yvonne, change will happen.

With Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr

The Freetown Society has already donated £29,000 to support
the Cleanest Zone competition; the aim being to encourage communities to
support one another to make theirs the cleanest zone in Freetown. The prizes
include water tanks, plastic paving,
solar powered street lights plus 10 school scholarships and much more.

With Hull Society’s Chair, Francis Mason and WeOwnTV’s Barmmy Boy

Whilst in Freetown, I
was able to attend a meeting of the Hull Society executive where I outlined the
new structure of the Freetown Society executive and discussed ways to more
closely align the two societies. The Hull Society are keen to formalise their meetings
and hope to meet on alternative months to the Freetown Society to ensure
regular exchange and follow up of minutes.

At Hull Society’s Executive Committee Meeting

I also attended a 40th
Anniversary Celebrations planning meeting where members met to plan their year
of activities. Some events will be linked to visits to Hull and Freetown by teachers, artists and
others throughout the year, others will be schools, church and civic events. It
should be an exciting year celebrating the past 40 years and looking forward to
many positive successful joint projects in the years ahead.

The Freetown Society and the Hull Society have pledged to use
our special year of celebration to raise awareness of and funds for
#TransformFreetown.

The final key event I
organised during my week was a Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning
workshop for the 16 teachers travelling to Hull in March. The year-long joint
projects are based on the Sustainable Development Goals and I was able to share
plans from their partner schools on such topics as Gender Equality and Zero
Waste. It was an excellent day of
discussion and planning, my thanks to the British Council for hosting the
event.

Using a Practical Action resource to encourage engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals